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TRAVELS
ON THE
AMAZON AND RIO NEGRO.
CHAPTER I.
t
PARA.
Arrival at Para Appearance of the City and its Environs The
Inhabitants and their Costume Vegetation Sensitive Plants
Lizards Ants and other Insects Birds Climate Food of the
Inhabitants.
T was on the morning of the 26th of May, 1848, that
after a short passage of twenty-nine days from Liver-
U pool, we came to anchor opposite the southern
entrance to the River Amazon, and obtained our
first view of South America. In the afternoon the pilot came
on board, and the next morning we sailed with a fair wind up
the river, which for fifty miles could only be distinguished from
the ocean by its calmness and discoloured water, the northern
shore being invisible, and the southern at a distance of ten or
twelve miles. Early on the morning of the 28th we again
anchored ; and when the sun rose in a cloudless sky, the city
of Para, surrounded by the dense forest, and overtopped by
palms and plantains, greeted our sight, appearing doubly
beautiful from the presence of those luxuriant tropical produc-
tions in a state of nature, which we had so often admired in
the conservatories of Kew and Chatsworth. The canoes
2 TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. [May,
passing with their motley crews of Negroes and Indians, the
vultures soaring overhead or walking lazily about the beach,
and the crowds of swallows on the churches and house-tops,
all served to occupy our attention till the Custom-house officers
visited us, and we were allowed to go on shore.
Para contains about 15,000 inhabitants, and does not cover
a great extent of ground ; yet it is the largest city on the
greatest river in the world, the Amazon, and is the capital of a
province equal in extent to all Western Europe. It is the
residence of a President appointed by the Emperor of Brazil,
and of a Bishop whose see extends two thousand miles into
the interior, over a country peopled by countless tribes of uncon-
verted Indians. The province of Para is the most northern
portion of Brazil, and though it is naturally the richest part of
that vast empire, it is the least known, and at present of the
least commercial importance.
The appearance of the city from the river, which is the best
view that can be obtained of it, is not more foreign than that
of Calais or Boulogne. The houses are generally white, and
several handsome churches and public buildings raise their
towers and domes above them. The vigour of vegetation is
everywhere apparent. The ledges and mouldings support a
growth of small plants, and from the wall-tops and window-
openings of the churches often spring luxuriant weeds and
sometimes small trees. Above and below and behind the city,
as far as the eye can reach, extends the unbroken forest ; all
the small islands in the river are wooded to the water's edge,
and many sandbanks flooded at high-water are covered with
shrubs and small trees, whose tops only now appeared above
the surface. The general aspect of the trees was not different
from those of Europe, except where the " feathery palm-trees "
raised their graceful forms ; but our imaginations were busy
picturing the wonderful scenes to be beheld in their dark
recesses, and we longed for the time when we should be at
liberty to explore them.
On landing, we proceeded to the house of Mr. Miller, the
consignee of our vessel, by whom we were most kindly
received, and invited to remain till we could settle ourselves
as we should find most convenient. We were here introduced
to most of the English and American residents, who are all
engaged in trade, and are few in number. For the four
1848.] ARRIVAL AT PARA. 3
following days we were occupied in walking in the neighbour-
hood of the city, presenting our passports and obtaining license
to reside, familiarising ourselves with the people and the
vegetation, and endeavouring to obtain a residence fitted for
our pursuits. Finding that this could not be immediately
done, we removed to Mr. Miller's " rosinha," or country-house,
situated about half a mile from the city, which he kindly gave
us the use of till we could find more convenient quarters.
Beds and bedsteads tire not wanted here, as cotton woven
hammocks are universally used for sleeping in, and are very
convenient on account of their portability. These, with a few
chairs and tables and our boxes, are all the furniture we had
or required. We hired an old Negro man named Isidora for
a cook and servant of all work, and regularly commenced
house-keeping, learning Portuguese, and investigating the
natural productions of the country.
My previous wanderings had been confined to England and
a short trip on the Continent, so that everything here had the
charm of perfect novelty. Nevertheless, on the whole I was
disappointed. The weather was not so hot, the people were
not so peculiar, the vegetation was not so striking, as the
glowing picture I had conjured up in my imagination, and had
been brooding over during the tedium of a sea-voyage. And
this is almost always the case with everything but a single view
of some one definite object. A piece of fine scenery, as
beheld from a given point, can scarcely be overdrawn ; and
there are many such, which will not disappoint even the most
expectant beholder. It is the general effect that strikes at
once and commands the whole attention : the beauties have
not to be sought, they are all before you. With a district or
a country the case is very different. There are individual
objects of interest, which have to be sought out and observed
and appreciated. The charms of a district grow upon one in
proportion as the several parts come successively into view,
and in proportion as our education and habits lead us to
understand and admire them. This is particularly the case
with tropical countries. Some such places will no doubt strike
at once as altogether unequalled, but in the majority of cases
it is only in time that the various peculiarities, the costume of
the people, the strange forms of vegetation, and the novelty of
the animal world, will present themselves so as to form a con-
4 TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. [Jm>
nected and definite impression on the mind. Thus it is that
travellers who crowd into one description all the wonders and
novelties which it took them weeks and months to observe, must
produce an erroneous impression on the reader, and cause him,
when he visits the spot, to experience much disappointment.
As one instance of what is meant, it may be mentioned that
during the first week of our residence in Para, though constantly
in the forest in the neighbourhood of the city, I did not see a
single humming-bird, parrot, or monkey. And yet, as I
afterwards found, humming-birds, parrots, and monkeys are
plentiful enough in the neighbourhood of Para ; but they
require looking for, and a certain amount of acquaintance
with them is necessary in order to discover their haunts, and
some practice is required to see them in the thick forest, even
when you hear them close by you.
But still Para has quite enough to redeem it from the
imputations we may be supposed to have cast upon it. Every
day showed us something fresh to admire, some new wonder
we had been taught to expect as the invariable accompaniment
of a luxuriant country within a degree of the equator. Even
now, while writing by the last glimmer of twilight, the vampire
bat is fluttering about the room, hovering among the timbers
of the roof (for there are no ceilings), and now and then
whizzing past my ears with a most spectral noise."
The city has been laid out on a most extensive plan ; many
of the churches and public buildings are very handsome, but.
decay and incongruous repairs have injured some of them,
and bits of gardens and waste ground intervening between the
houses, fenced in with rotten palings, and filled with rank
weeds and a few banana-plants, look strange and unsightly to
a European eye. The squares and public places are pictur-
esque, either from the churches and pretty houses which
surround them, or from the elegant palms of various species,
which with the plantain and banana everywhere occur; but
they bear more resemblance to village-greens than to parts
of a great city. A few paths lead across them in different
directions through a tangled vegetation of weedy cassias,
shrubby convolvuli, and the pretty orange-flowered Asdepias
curassavica, plants which here take the place of the rushes,
docks, and nettles of England. The principal street, the
" Rua dos Mercadores " (Street of Merchants), contains almost
1848.] ENVIRONS OF PARA. 5
the only good shops in the city. The houses are many of
them only one storey high, but the shops, which are often
completely open in front, are very neatly and attractively
furnished, though with rather a miscellaneous assortment of
articles. Here are seen at intervals a few yards of foot-paving,
though so little as only to render the rest of your walk over
rough stones or deep sand more unpleasant by comparison.
The other streets are all very narrow. They consist either
of very rough stones, apparently the remains of the original
paving, which has never been repaired, or of deep sand and
mud-holes. The houses are irregular and low, mostly built
of a coarse ferruginous sandstone, common in the neighbour-
hood, and plastered over. The windows, which have no glass,
have the lower part filled with lattice, hung above, so that the
bottom may be pushed out and a peep obtained sideways in
either direction, and from these many dark eyes glanced at us
as we passed. Yellow and blue wash are liberally used about
most of the houses and churches in decorating the pilasters
and door and window openings, which are in a debased but
picturesque style of Italian architecture. The building now
used as custom-house and barracks, formerly a convent, is
handsome and very extensive.
Beyond the actual streets of the city is a large extent of
ground covered with roads and lanes intersecting each other
at right angles. In the spaces formed by these are the
"rosinhas," or country-houses, one, two, or more on each
block. They are of one storey, with several spacious rooms
and a large verandah, which is generally the dining-room and
most pleasant sitting and working apartment. The ground
attached is usually a swamp or a wilderness of weeds or fruit-
trees. Sometimes a portion is formed into a flower-garden,
but seldom with much care or taste, and the plants and flowers
of Europe are preferred to the splendid and ornamental pro-
ductions of the country. The general impression of the city
to a person fresh from England is not very favourable. There
is such a want of neatness and order, such an appearance of
neglect and decay, such evidences of apathy and indolence,
as to be at first absolutely painful. But this soon wears off,
and some of these peculiarities are seen to be dependent on
the climate. The large and lofty rooms, with boarded floors
and scanty furniture, and with half-a-dozen doors and windows
6 TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. [June,
in each, look at first comfortless, but are nevertheless exactly
adapted to a tropical country, in which a carpeted, curtained,
and cushioned room would be unbearable.
The inhabitants of Para present a most varied and interesting
mixture of races. There is the fresh-coloured Englishman,
who seems to thrive as well here as in the cooler climate of
his native country, the sallow American, the swarthy Portuguese,
the more corpulent Brazilian, the merry Negro, and the
apathetic but finely formed Indian ; and between these a
hundred shades and mixtures, which it requires an experienced
eye to detect. The white inhabitants generally dress with
great neatness in linen clothes of spotless purity. Some adhere
to the black cloth coat and cravat, and look most uncom-
fortably clad with the thermometer from 85 to 90 in the
shade. The men's dress, whether Negro or Indian, is simply
a pair of striped or white cotton trousers, to which they some-
times add a shirt of the same material. The women and girls
on most gala occasions dress in pure white, which, contrasting
with their glossy black or brown skins, has a very pleasing
effect ; and it is then that the stranger is astonished to behold
the massy gold chains and ornaments worn by these women,
many of whom are slaves. Children are seen in every degree
of clothing, down to perfect nudity, which is the general
condition of all the male coloured population under eight or
ten years of age. Indians fresh from the interior are sometimes
seen looking very mild and mannerly, and, except for holes
in their ears large enough to put a cart-rope through, and a
peculiar wildness with which they gaze at all around them,
they would hardly be noticed among the motley crowd of
regular inhabitants.
I have already stated that the natural productions of the
tropics did not at first realise my expectations. This is princi-
pally owing to the accounts of picture-drawing travellers, who,
by only describing the beautiful, the picturesque, and the
magnificent, would almost lead a person to believe that nothing
of a different character could exist under a tropical sun. Our
having arrived at Para at the end of the wet season, may also
explain why we did not at first see all the glories of the vegeta-
tion. The beauty of the palm-trees can scarcely be too highly
drawn ; they are peculiarly characteristic of the tropics, and
their varied and elegant forms, their beautiful foliage, and
1848.] SENSITIVE PLANTS. 7
their fruits, often useful to man, give them a never-failing
interest to the naturalist, and to all who are familiar with
descriptions of the countries where they most abound. The
rest of the vegetation was hardly what I expected. We found
many beautiful flowers and climbing plants, but there are also
many places which are just as weedy in their appearance as in
our own bleak climate. But very few of the forest-trees were
in flower, and most of them had nothing very peculiar in their
appearance. The eye of the botanist, indeed, detects numer-
ous tropical forms in the structure of the stems, and the form
and arrangement of the leaves ; but most of them produce an
effect in the landscape remarkably similar to that of our own
oaks, elms, and beeches. These remarks apply only to the
immediate vicinity of the city, where the whole surface has
been cleared, and the present vegetation is a second growth.
On proceeding a few miles out of the town into the forest
which everywhere surrounds it, a very different scene is beheld.
Trees of an enormous height rise on every side. The foliage
varies from the most light and airy to the darkest and most
massive. Climbing and parasitic plants, with large shining
leaves, run up the trunks, and often mount even to the highest
branches, while others, with fantastic stems, hang like ropes
and cables from their summits. Many curious seeds and
fruits are here seen scattered on the ground ; and there is
enough to engage the wonder and admiration of every lover
of nature. But even here there is something wanting that we
expected to find. The splendid Orchideous plants, so much
sought after in Europe, we had thought must abound in every
luxuriant tropical forest; yet here are none but a few small
species with dull brown or yellow flowers. Most of the
parasitic plants which clothe the stems of every old or fallen
tree with verdure, are of quite a different character, being ferns,
Tillandsias, and species of Fothos and Caladium, plants
resembling the Ethiopian lily so commonly cultivated in
houses. Among the shrubs near the city that immediately
attracted our attention were several Solanums, which are allied
to our potato. One of these grows from eight to twelve feet
high, with large woolly leaves, spines on both leaves and stem,
and handsome purple flowers larger than those of the potato.
Some other species have white flowers, and one much resembles
our bitter-sweet (Solatium Dulcamara). Many handsome
S TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON [June,
convolvuluses climb over the hedges, as well as several most
beautiful Bignonias or trumpet-flowers, with yellow, orange, or
purple blossoms. But most striking of all are the passion-
flowers, which are abundant on the skirts of the forest, and are
of various colours, purple, scarlet, or pale pink : the purple
ones have an exquisite perfume, and they all produce an
agreeable fruit the grenadilla of the West Indies. There are
besides many other elegant flowers, and numbers of less con-
spicuous ones. The papilionaceous flowers, or peas, are
common ; cassias are very numerous, some being mere weeds,
others handsome trees, having a profusion of bright yellow
blossoms. Then there are the curious sensitive plants
{Mimosa), looked upon with such interest in our greenhouses,
but which here abound as common wayside weeds. Most of
them have purple or white globular heads of flowers. Some
are very sensitive, a gentle touch causing many leaves to drop
and fold up; others require a ruder hand to make them exhibit
their peculiar properties ; while others again will scarcely show
any signs of feeling, though ever so roughly treated. They
are all more or less armed with sharp prickles, which may
partly answer the purpose of guarding their delicate frames
from some of the numerous shocks they would otherwise
receive.
The immense number of orange-trees about the city is an
interesting feature, and renders that delicious fruit always
abundant and cheap. Many of the public roads are lined
with them, and every garden is well stocked, so that the cost
is merely the trouble of gathering and taking to market. The
mango is also abundant, and in some of the public avenues is
planted alternately with the Mangabeira, or silk cotton-tree,
which grows to a great size, though, as its leaves are deciduous,
it is not so well adapted to produce the shade so much
required as some evergreen trees. On almost every roadside,
thicket, or waste, the coffee-tree is seen growing, and generally
with flower or fruit, and often both ; yet such is the scarcity of
labour or indolence of the people, that none is gathered but a
little for private consumption, while the city is almost entirely
supplied with coffee grown in other parts of Brazil.
Turning our attention to the world of animal life, what first
attract notice are the lizards. They abound everywhere. In
the city they are seen running along the walls and palings,
I84&3 ANTS. 9
sunning themselves on logs of wood, or creeping up to the
eaves of the lower houses. In every garden, road, and dry
sandy situation they are scampering out of the way as we walk
along. Now they crawl round the trunk of a tree, watching
us as we pass, and keeping carefully out of sight, just as a
squirrel will do under similar circumstances; now they walk
up a smooth wall or paling as composedly and securely as if
they had the plain earth beneath them. Some are of a dark
coppery colour, some with backs of the most brilliant silky
green and blue, and others marked with delicate shades and
lines of yellow and brown. On this sandy soil, and beneath
this bright sunshine, they seem to enjoy every moment of their
existence, basking in the hot sun with the most indolent
satisfaction, then scampering off as if every ray had lent
vivacity and vigour to their chilly constitutions. Far different
from the little lizards with us, which cannot raise their body
from the ground, and drag their long tails like an encumbrance
after them, these denizens of a happier clime carry their tails
stuck out in the air, and gallop away on their four legs with as
much freedom and muscular power as a warm-blooded quad-
ruped. To catch such lively creatures was of course no easy
matter, and all our attempts utterly failed ; but we soon got
the little Negro and Indian boys to shoot them for us with
their bows and arrows, and thus obtained many specimens.
Next to the lizards, the ants cannot fail to be noticed. They
startle you with the apparition of scraps of paper, dead leaves,
and feathers, endued with locomotive powers ; processions
engaged in some abstruse engineering operations stretch across
the public paths ; the flowers you gather or the fruit you pluck
is covered with them, and they spread over your hand in such
swarms as to make you hastily drop your prize. At meals
they make themselves quite at home upon the tablecloth, in
your plate, and in the sugar-basin, though not in such numbers
as to offer any serious obstruction to your meal. In these
situations, and in many others, you will find them, and in each
situation it will be a distinct kind. Many plants have ants
peculiar to them. Their nests are seen forming huge black
masses, several feet in diameter, on the branches of trees. In
paths in woods and gardens we often see a gigantic black
species wandering about singly or in pairs, measuring near an
inch and a half long ; while some of the species that frequent
io TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. [June,
houses arc so small as to require a box-lid to fit very closely in
order to keep them out. They are great enemies to any dead
animal matter, especially insects and small birds. In drying
the specimens of insects we procured, we found it necessary to
hang up the boxes containing them to the roof of the verandah :
but even then a party got possession by descending the string,
as we caught them in the act, and found that in a few hours
they had destroyed several fine insects. We were then in-
formed that the Andiroba oil of the country, which is very
bitter, would keep them away, and by well soaking the suspend-
ing string we have since been free from their incursions.
Having at first employed ourselves principally in collecting
insects, I am enabled to say something about the other families
of that numerous class. None of the orders of insects were so
numerous as I expected, with the exception of the diurnal
Zepidoptera, or butterflies ; and even these, though the number
of different species was very great, did not abound in in-
dividuals to the extent I had been led to anticipate. In about
three weeks Mr. B. and myself had captured upwards of a
hundred and fifty distinct species of butterflies. Among them
were eight species of the handsome genus Papilio, and three
Morplws. those splendid large metallic-blue buttei flies which
are always first noticed by travellers in South America, in
which country alone they are found, and where, flying lazily
along the paths in the forest, alternately in deep shade and
bright sunshine, they present one of the most striking sights
the insect world can produce. Among the smaller species the
exquisite colouring and variety of marking is wonderful. The
species seem inexhaustible, and probably not one-half of those
which exist in this country are yet discovered. We did not
fall in with any of the large and remarkable insects of South
America, such as the rhinoceros or harlequin beetles, but saw
numerous specimens of a large Mantis, or praying insect, and
also several of the large Mygale, or bird-catching spiders,
which are here improperly called " tarantulas," and are said to be
very venomous. We found one which had a nest on a silk
cotton-tree, formed like the web of some of our house-spiders,
as a place of concealment, but of a very strong texture, almost
like silk. Other species live in holes in the ground. Beetles
and flies were generally very scarce, and, with few exceptions,
of small size, but bees and wasps were abundant, and many of
1848.] BIRDS. 11
them very large and handsome. Mosquitoes, in the low parts
of the city and on shipboard, are very annoying, but on the
higher grounds and in the suburbs there are none. The
moqueen, a small red tick, scarcely visible the " bete rouge "
of Cayenne abounds in the grass, and, getting on the legs, is
very irritating ; but these are trifles which one soon gets used
to, and in fact would hardly think oneself in the tropics with-
out them.
Of birds we at first saw but few, and those not very remark-
able ones. The only brilliant-coloured bird common about
the city is the yellow troupial {Cassicus icteronotus), which
builds its nests in colonies, suspended from the ends of the
branches of trees. A tree is sometimes covered with their
long purse-like nests, and the brilliant black and yellow birds
flying in and out .have a pretty effect. This bird has a variety
of loud clear notes, and has an extraordinary power of imitating
the song of other birds, so as to render it worthy of the title of
the South American mocking-bird. Besides this, the common
silver-beak tanager (Rha?nfihoccelus jacapa), some pale blue
tanagers, called here " Sayis," and the yellow-breasted tyrant
flycatchers are the only conspicuous birds common in the
suburbs of Para. In the forest are constantly heard the curious
notes of the bush-shrikes, tooo-too-to-to-t-t-t, each succeeding
sound quicker and quicker, like the successive reboundings of
a hammer from an anvil. In the dusk of the evening many
goat-suckers fly about and utter their singular and melancholy
cries. One says " Whip-poor-will," just like the North American
bird so called, and another with remarkable distinctness keeps
asking, "Who are you?" and as their voices often alternate,
an interesting though rather monotonous conversation takes
place between them.
The climate, so far as we had yet experienced, was delightful.
The thermometer did not rise above 87 in the afternoon, nor
sink below 74 during the night. The mornings and evenings
were most agreeably cool, and we had generally a shower and
a fine breeze in the afternoon, which was very refreshing, and
purified the air. On moonlight evenings till eight o'clock
ladies walk about the streets and suburbs without any head-
dress and in ball-room attire, and the Brazilians, in their
rosinhas, sit outside their houses bareheaded and in their
shirt-sleeves till nine or ten o'clock, quite unmindful of the
12 TRA VELS ON THE AMAZON. [June, 1848.
night airs and heavy dews of the tropics, which we have
been accustomed to consider so deadly.
We will now add a few words on the food of the people.
Beef is almost the only meat used. The cattle are kept on
estates some days' journey across and up the river, whence
they are brought in canoes ; they refuse food during the
voyage, and so lose most of their fat, and arrive in very poor
condition. They are killed in the morning for the day's
consumption, and are cut up with axes and cutlasses, with a
total disregard to appearance, the blood being allowed to run
all over the meat. About six every morning a number of
loaded carts may be seen going to the different butchers'
shops, the contents bearing such a resemblance to horse-flesh
going to a kennel of hounds, as to make a person of delicate
stomach rather uneasy when he sees nothing but beef on the
table at dinner-time. Fish is sometimes obtained, but it is
very dear, and pork is killed only on Sundays. Bread made
from United States flour, Irish and American butter, and other
foreign products, are in general use among the white population ;
but farinha, rice, salt-fish, and fruits are the principal food of
the Indians and Negroes. Farinha is a preparation from the
root of the mandiocca or cassava plant, of which tapioca is
also made; it looks something like coarsely ground peas, or
perhaps more like sawdust, and when soaked in water or broth
is rather glutinous, and is a very nutritious article of food.
This, with a little salt-fish, chili peppers, bananas, oranges, and
assai (a preparation from a palm fruit), forms almost the entire
subsistence of a great part of the population of the city. Our
own bill of fare comprised coffee, tea, bread, butter, beef, rice,
farinha, pumpkins, bananas, and oranges. Isidora was a good
cook, and made all sorts of roasts and stews out of our daily
lump of tough beef; and the bananas and oranges were such
a luxury to us, that, with the good appetite which our walks in
the forest always gave us, we had nothing to complain of.
CHAPTER II.
PARA.
Festas Portuguese and Brazilian Currency M. Borlaz' Estate Walk
to the Rice-mills The Virgin Forest, its Plants and Insects Milk-
tree Saw and Rice Mills Caripe or Pottery-tree India-rubber-tree
Flowers and Trees in Blossom Saiiba Ants, Wasps, and Chegoes
Journey by Water to Magoary The Monkeys The Commandante
at Laranjeiras Vampire Bats The Timber-trade Boa Constrictor
and Sloth.
About a fortnight after our arrival at Para there were several
holidays, or "festas," as they are called. Those of the
"Espirito Santo" and the "Trinidade" lasted each nine days.
The former was held at the cathedral, the latter at one of the
smaller churches in the suburbs. The general character of
these festas is the same, some being more celebrated and more
attractive than others. They consist of fireworks every night
before the church; Negro girls selling "doces," or sweetmeats,
cakes, and fruit ; processions of saints and crucifixes ; the
church open, with regular services; kissing of images and
relics ; and a miscellaneous crowd of Negroes and Indians, all
dressed in white, thoroughly enjoying the fun, and the women
in all the glory of their massive gold chains and earrings.
Besides these, a number of the higher classes and foreign
residents grace the scene with their presence ; showy pro-
cessions are got up at the commencement and termination,
and on the last evening a grand display of fireworks takes
place, which is generally provided by some person who is
chosen or volunteers to be " Juiz da festa," or governor of the
feast, a rather expensive honour among people who, not
content with an unlimited 'supply of rockets at night, amuse
themselves by firing off great quantities during the day for the
sake of the whiz and the bang that accompany them. The
14 TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. [fune, ]
rockets are looked upon as quite a part of the religious
ceremony : on asking an old Negro why they were let off in
the morning, he looked up to the sky and answered very
gravely, " Por Deos " (for God). Music, noise, and fireworks
are the three essentials to please a Brazilian populace ; and for
a fortnight we had enough of them,* for besides the above-
mentioned amusements, they fire off guns, pistols, and cannon
from morning to night.
After many inquiries, we at last succeeded in procuring a
house to suit us. It was situated at Nazare, about a mile and
a half south of the city, just opposite a pretty little chapel.
Close behind, the forest commences, and there are many good
localities for birds, insects, and plants in the neighbourhood.
The house consisted of a ground-floor of four rooms, with a
verandah extending completely round it, affording a rather
extensive and very pleasant promenade. The grounds contained
oranges and bananas, and a great many forest and fruit trees,
with coffee and mandiocca plantations. We were to pay
twenty milreis a month rent (equal to 2 $s.), which is very
dear for Para, but we could get no other house so convenient.
Isidora took possession of an old mud-walled shed as the
domain of his culinary operations ; we worked and took our
meals in the verandah, and seldom used the inner rooms but
as sleeping apartments.
We now found much less difficulty in mustering up sufficient
Portuguese to explain our various wants. We were some time
getting into the use of the Portuguese, or rather Brazilian,
money, which is peculiar and puzzling. It consists of paper,
silver, and copper. The rey is the unit or standard, but the
milrey, or thousand reis, is the value of the lowest note, and
serves as the unit in which accounts are kept; so that the
system is a decimal one, and very easy, w r ere it not complicated
by several other coins, which are used in reckoning; as the
vintem, which is twenty reis, the patac, three hundred and
twenty, and the crusado, four hundred, in all of which coins
sums of money are often reckoned, which is puzzling to a
beginner, because the patac is not an integral part of the
milrey (three patacs and two vintems making a milrey), and
the Spanish dollars which are current here are worth six patacs.
The milrey was originally worth $s. J^d., but now fluctuates
from 2s. id. to 2s. 4^., or not quite half, owing probably to the
lg 4 S.] INSECTS CAPTURED. 15
over-issue of paper and its inconvertibility into coin. The
metallic currency, being then of less nominal than real value,
would soon have been melted down, so it became necessary
to increase its value. This was done by restamping it and
making it pass for double. Thus a vintem restamped is two
vintems ; a patac with one hundred and sixty on it counts for
three hundred and twenty reis ; a two-vintem piece counts for
four. The newer coinage also having been diminished in size
with the depreciation of the currency, there has arisen such a
confusion, that the size of the coin is scarcely any index to its
value, and when two pieces are of exactly the same size one
may be double the value of the other. An accurate examina-
tion of each coin is therefore necessary, which renders the
making up of a large sum a matter requiring much practice
and attention.
There were living on the premises three Negroes, who had
the care of the coffee- and fruit-trees, and of the mandiocca
field. The principal one, named Vincente, was a fine stout
handsome Negro, who was celebrated as a catcher of " bichos,"
as they here call all insects, reptiles, and small animals. He
soon brought us in several insects. One was a gigantic hairy
spider, a Mygak, which he skilfully dug out of its hole in the
earth, and caught in a leaf. He told us he was once bitten
by one, and was bad some time. When questioned on the
matter, he said the " bicho " was " muito mat " (very bad), and
concluded with an expressive " whew-w-w," which just answers
to a schoolboy's " Ain't it though ? " and intimates that there
can be no doubt at all about the matter. It seems probable
therefore that this insect is not armed in vain with such
powerful fangs, but is capable of inflicting with them an
envenomed wound.
During one of our exploratory rambles we came upon the
country-house of a French gentleman, M. Borlaz, who is Swiss
Consul in Para. Much to our surprise he addressed us in
English, and then showed us round his grounds, and pointed
out to us the paths in the woods we should find most practi-
cable. The vegetation here on the banks of the river, a mile
below Para, was very rich. The Miriti (Mauritia flexuosd),
a fine fan-palm, and a slender species, the Maraja (Bactris
Maraja), a small prickly tree which bears a fruit with a thin
outer pulp, of a pleasant subacid taste, were both abundant.
16 TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. {June,
A mass of cactus, thirty feet high, grew near the house, having
a most tropical aspect, but this was planted. The thickets
were full of curious Bro?neliacecz and Arums, and many singular
trees and shrubs, and in their shady recesses we captured some
very fine insects. The splendid blue and orange butterflies
{Epicalia ancea) were abundant, settling on the leaves ; and
they would repeatedly return to the same tree, and even to
the same leaf, so that, though very difficult to capture, five
specimens were taken without removing from the spot.
On our return to the house M. Borlaz treated us to some
fine fruits, the berribee, a species of Anona, with a pleasant
acid custard-like pulp, the nuts of the bread-fruit roasted, very
similar to Spanish chestnuts, and plantains dried in the sun,
and much resembling figs. The situation of the house was
delightful, looking over the river to the opposite islands, yet
sufficiently elevated to be dry and healthy. The moist woods
along the bank of the river were so productive that we often
afterwards availed ourselves of M. Borlaz' kind invitation to
visit his grounds whenever we felt disposed. As an instance
of the voracity of the ants, I may mention that, having laid
down my collecting-box in the verandah during half-an-hour's
conversation, I was horrified to find, on opening it to put in
a fresh capture, that it swarmed with small red ants, who
had already separated the wings from near a dozen insects,
and were dragging them in different directions about the
box ; others were at the process of dismemberment, while
some had buried themselves in the plumpest bodies, where
they were enjoying a delicious repast. I had great difficulty
in making them quit their prey, and gained some useful
experience at the expense of half a successful day's captures,
including some of the splendid Efiicalias which I so much
prized.
On the morning of the 23rd of June we started early to
walk to the rice-mills at Magoary, which we had been invited
to visit by the proprietor, Mr. Upton, and the manager, Mr,
Leavens, both American gentlemen. At about two miles from
the city we entered the virgin forest, which the increased
height of the trees and the deeper shade had some time told
us we were approaching. Its striking characteristics were, the
great number and variety of the forest-trees, their trunks rising
frequently for sixty or eighty feet without a branch, and
1848.] THE VIRGIN FOREST. 17
perfectly straight ; the huge creepers, which climb about them,
sometimes stretching obliquely from their summits like the
stays of a mast, sometimes winding around their trunks like
immense serpents waiting for their prey. Here, two or three
together, twisting spirally round each other, form a complete
living cable, as if to bind securely these monarchs of the forest ;
there, they form tangled festoons, and, covered themselves
with smaller creepers and parasitic plants, hide the parent stem
from sight.
Among the trees the various kinds that have buttresses
projecting around their base are the most striking and peculiar.
Some of these buttresses are much longer than they are high,
springing from a distance of eight or ten feet from the base,
and reaching only four or five feet high on the trunk, while
others rise to the height of twenty or thirty feet, and can even
be distinguished as ribs on the stem to forty or fifty. They
are complete wooden walls, from six inches to a foot thick,
sometimes branching into two or three, and extending straight
out to such a distance as to afford room for a comfortable hut
in the angle between them. Large square pieces are often
cut out of them to make paddles, and for other uses, the wood
being generally very light and soft.
Other trees, again, appear as if they were formed by a
number of slender stems growing together. They are deeply
furrowed and ribbed for their whole height, and in places these
furrows reach quite through them, like windows in a narrow
tower, yet they run up as high as the loftiest trees of the forest,
with a straight stem of uniform diameter. Another most
curious form is presented by those which have many of their
roots high above the surface of the ground, appearing to stand
on many legs, and often forming archways large enough for
a man to walk beneath.
The stems of all these trees, and the climbers that wind or
wave around them, support a multitude of dependants. 7)7-
landsias and other Bro7neliacecBy resembling wild pine-apples,
large climbing Arums, with their dark green arrowhead-shaped
leaves, peppers in great variety, and large-leaved ferns, shoot
out at intervals all up the stem, to the very topmost branches.
Detween these, creeping ferns and delicate little species like
our Hymenophyllintn abound, and in moist dark places the
leaves of these are again covered with minute creeping mosses
1 8 TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. [Jujie,
and Ilepaticcz, so that we have parasites on parasites, and
on these parasites again. On looking upwards, the finely-
divided foliage, strongly defined against the clear sky, is a
striking characteristic of the tropical forests, as is repeatedly
remarked by Humboldt. Many of the largest forest-trees
have leaves as delicate as those of the trembling Mimosa,
belonging like them to the extensive family of the Leguminosa,
while the huge palmate leaves of the Cecropias, the oval
glossy leaves of the Clusias, and a hundred others of inter-
mediate forms, afford sufficient variety ; and the bright sun-
shine lighting up all above while a sombre gloom reigns
below, adds to the grandeur and solemnity of the scene.
Flowers were very few and far between, a few small Orchidece
and inconspicuous wayside weeds, with now and then a white-
or green-blossomed shrub, being all that we met with. On
the ground many varieties of fruits lay decaying : curiously
twisted legumes like peas a yard long, huge broad beans, nuts
of various sizes and forms, and large fruits of the pot-trees,
which have lids like the utensil from which they derive their
name. The herbage consisted principally of ferns, Scitaminece,
a few grasses and small creeping plants ; but dead leaves and
rotten wood occupied the greater part of the surface.
We found very few insects, but almost all that we met with
were new to us. Our greatest treasure was the beautiful clear-
winged butterfly, with a bright violet patch on its lower wings,
the Hcetera esmeralda, which we now saw and caught for the
first time. Many other rare insects were also obtained, and
the gigantic blue Morphos frequently passed us, but their
undulating flight baffled all our efforts at capturing them. Of
quadrupeds we saw none, and of birds but few, though we
heard enough of the latter to assure us that they were not
altogether wanting. We are inclined to think that the general
statement, that the birds of the tropics have a deficiency of
song proportionate to their brilliancy of plumage, requires to
be modified. Many of the brilliant birds of the tropics belong
to families or groups which have no song ; but our most
brilliantly coloured birds, as the goldfinch and canary, are not
the less musical, and there are many beautiful little birds here
which are equally so. We heard notes resembling those of
the blackbird and the robin, and one bird gave forth three
or four sweet plaintive tones that particularly attracted our
1848.] SAW- MILL. 19
attention ; while many have peculiar cries, in which words
may easily be traced by the fanciful, and which in the stillness
of the forest have a very pleasing effect.
On reaching the mills we found it was one o'clock, the
interesting objects on the road having caused us to linger for
six hours on a distance of scarcely twelve miles. We were
kindly welcomed by Mr. Leavens, who soon set before us
substantial fare. After dinner we strolled round the premises,
and saw for the first time toucans and paroquets in their native
haunts. They frequent certain wild fruit-trees, and Mr.
Leavens has many specimens which he has shot, and pre-
served in a manner seldom equalled. There are three mills
a saw-mill and two for cleaning rice. One rice-mill is driven
by steam, the other two by water-power, which is obtained by
damming up two or three small streams, and thus forming
extensive mill-pools. The saw-mill was recently erected by
Mr. Leavens, who is a practical millwright. It is of the kind
commonly used in the United States, and the manner of
applying the water is rather different from which we generally
see in England. There is a fall of water of about ten feet,
which, instead of being applied to an overshot or breast-wheel,
is allowed to rush out of a longitudinal aperture at the bottom,
against the narrow floats of a wheel only twenty inches in
diameter, which thus revolves with great velocity, and com-
municates motion by means of a crank and connecting-rod
directly to the saw, which of course makes a double stroke to
each revolution of the wheel. The expense of a large slow-
motion wheel is thus saved, as well as all the gearing necessary
for producing a sufficiently rapid motion of the saws ; and the
whole having a smaller number of working parts, is much less
liable to get out of order, and requires few repairs. The
platform carrying the log is propelled on against the saw in the
usual manner, but the method of carrying it back at the end
of the cut is ingenious. The water is shut off from the main
wheel, and let on at another shoot against a vertical wheel, on
the top of the upright shaft of which is a cog-wheel working
into a rack on the frame, which runs it back with great
rapidity, and in the simplest manner. One saw only is used,
the various thicknesses into which the trees are cut rendering
more inconvenient.
We here saw the different kinds of timber used, both in the
20 TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. [/tine,
log and in boards, and were told their various uses by Mr.
Leavens. Some are very hard woods resembling oak, and
others lighter and less durable. What most interested us,
however, were several large logs of the Masseranduba, or
Milk-tree. On our way through the forest we had seen some
trunks much notched by persons who had been extracting the
milk. It is one of the noblest trees of the forest, rising with a
straight stem to an enormous height. The timber is very hard,
fine-grained, and durable, and is valuable for works which are
much exposed to the weather. The fruit is eatable and very
good, the size of a small apple, and full of a rich and very
juicy pulp. But strangest of all is the vegetable milk, which
exudes in abundance when the bark is cut : it has about the
consistence of thick cream, and but for a very slight peculiar
taste could scarcely be distinguished from the genuine product
of the cow. Mr. Leavens ordered a man to tap some logs
that had lain nearly a month in the yard. He cut several
notches in the bark with an axe, and in a minute the rich sap
was running out in great quantities. It was collected in a
basin, diluted with water, strained, and brought up at teatime
and at breakfast next morning. The peculiar flavour of the
milk seemed rather to improve the quality of the tea, and gave
it as good a colour as rich cream ; in coffee it is equally good.
Mr. Leavens informed us that he had made a custard of it,
and that, though it had a curious dark colour, it was very w r ell
tasted. The milk is also used for glue, and is said to be as
durable as that made use of by carpenters. As a specimen of
its capabilities in this line, Mr. Leavens showed us a violin he
had made, the belly-board of which, formed of two pieces, he
had glued together with it applied fresh from the tree without
any preparation. It had been done two years ; the instrument
had been in constant use, and the joint was now perfectly good
and sound throughout its whole length. As the milk hardens
by exposure to air, it becomes a very tough, slightly elastic
substance, much resembling gutta-percha ; but, not having the
property of being softened by hot water, is not likely to become
so extensively useful as that article.
After leaving the wood-yard, we next visited the rice-mills,
and inspected the process by which the rice is freed from its
husk. There are several operations to effect this. The grain
first passes between two mill-stones, not cut as for grinding
1848. RICE-MILLS. 21
flour, but worked flat, and by them the outer husk is rubbed
off. It is then conveyed between two boards of similar size
and shape to the stones, set all over with stiff iron wires about
three-eighths of an, inch long, so close together that a grain of
rice can just be pushed in between them. The two surfaces
very nearly touch one another, so that the rice is forced
through the spaces of the wires, which rub off the rest of the
husk and polish the grain. A quantity, however, is broken by
this operation, so it is next shaken through sifters of different
degrees of fineness, which separate the dust from the broken
rice. The whole rice is then fanned, to blow off the remaining
dust, and finally passes between rubbers covered with sheep-
skin with the wool on, which clean it thoroughly, and render it
fit for the market. The Para rice is remarkably fine, being
equal in quality to that of Carolina, but, owing to the careless-
ness with which it is cultivated, it seldom shows so good a
sample. No care is taken in choosing seed or in preparing
the ground ; and in harvesting, a portion is cut green, because
there are not hands enough to get it in quickly when it is ripe,
and rice is a grain which rapidly falls out of the ear and is
wasted. It is therefore seldom cultivated on a large scale, the
greater portion being the produce of Indians and small land-
holders, who bring it to the mills to sell.
In the morning, after a refreshing shower-bath under the
mill-feeder, we shouldered our guns, insect-nets, and pouches,
and, accompanied by Mr. Leavens, took a walk into the forest.
On our way we saw the long-toed jacanas on the river-side,
Bemtevi* flycatchers on the branches of every bare tree, and
toucans flying with out-stretched bills to their morning repast.
Their peculiar creaking note was often heard, with now and
then the loud tapping of the great woodpeckers, and the
extraordinary sounds uttered by the howling monkeys, all
telling us plainly that we were in the vast forests of tropical
America. We were not successful in shooting, but returned
with a good appetite to our coffee and masseranduba milk,
pirarucii, and eggs. The pirarucii is the dried fish which, with
farinha, forms the chief subsistence of the native population,
and in the interior is often the only thing to be obtained, so we
thought it as well to get used to it at once. It resembles in
appearance nothing eatable, looking as much like a dry cowhide
* "Bemtevi" (I saw you well) ; the bird's note resembles this word.
22 TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. \J ung >
grated up into fibres and pressed into cakes, as anything I can
compare it with. When eaten, it is boiled or slightly roasted,
pulled to pieces, and mixed with vinegar, oil, pepper, onions,
and farinha, and altogether forms a very savoury mess for a
person with a good appetite and a strong stomach.
After breakfast, we loaded our old Negro (who had come
wiih us to show the way) with plants that we had collected, and
a basket to hold anything interesting we might meet with on
the road, and set out to walk home, promising soon to make
a longer visit. We reached Nazare with boxes full of insects,
and heads full of the many interesting things we had seen,
among which the milk-giving tree, supplying us with a
necessary of life from so new and strange a source, held a
prominent place.
Wishing to obtain specimens of a tree called Caripe, the
bark of which is used in the manufacture of the pottery of the
country, we inquired of Isidora if he knew such a tree, and
where it grew. He replied that he knew the tree very well,
but that it grew in the forest a long way off. So one fine
morning after breakfast we told him to shoulder his axe and
come with us in search of the Caripe, he in his usual
dishabille of a pair of trousers, shirt, hat, and shoes being
altogether dispensed with in this fine climate ; and we in our
shirt-sleeves, and with our hunting apparatus across our
shoulders. Our old conductor, though now following the
domestic occupation of cook and servant of all work to two
foreign gentlemen, had worked much in the forest, and was
well acquainted with the various trees, could tell their names,
and was learned in their uses and properties. He was of rather
a taciturn disposition, except when excited by our exceeding
dulness in understanding w T hat he wanted, when he would
gesticulate with a vehemence and perform dumb-show with a
minuteness worthy of a more extensive audience ; yet he was
rather fond of displaying his knowledge on a subject of which
we were in a state of the most benighted ignorance, and at the
same time quite willing to learn. His method of instruction
was by a series of parenthetical remarks on the trees as he
passed them, appearing to speak rather to them than to us,
unless we elicited by questions further information.
"This," he would say, "is Ocooba, very good medicine,
good for sore-throat," which he explained by going through the
1848.] INDIA-RUBBER TREE. 23
action of gargling, and showed us that a watery sap issued
freely on the bark being cut. The tree, like many others, was
notched all over by the number of patients who came for the
healing juice. " This," said he, glancing at a magnificent tall
straight tree, " is good wood for houses, good for floors ; call
it Quarooba." " This," pointing to one of the curious furrowed
trees that look as if a bundle of enormously long sticks had
grown into one mass, " is wood for making paddles ; " and, as
we did not understand this in Portuguese, he imitated rowing
in a canoe ; the name of this was Pootieka. " This," pointing
to another large forest-tree, " is good wood for burning, to
make charcoal ; good hard wood for everything, makes the
best charcoal for forges," which he explained by intimating
that the wood made the fire to make the iron of the axe he
held in his hand. This tree rejoiced in the name of Nowara.
Next came the Caripe itself, but it was a young tree with
neither fruit nor flowers, so we had to content ourselves with
specimens of the wood and bark only ; it grew on the edge of
a swamp filled with splendid palm-trees. Here the Assai
Palm, so common about the city, reached an enormous
height. With a smooth stem only four inches in diameter,
some specimens were eighty feet high. Sometimes they are
perfectly straight, sometimes gently curved, and, with the
drooping crowns of foliage, are most beautiful. Here also
grew the Inaja, a fine thick-stemmed species, with a very large
dense head of foliage. The undeveloped leaves of this as
well as many other kinds form an excellent vegetable, called
here fialmeto, and probably very similar to that produced by
the cabbage-palm of the West Indies. A prickly-stemmed
fan-leaved palm, which we had observed at the mills, was also
growing here. But the most striking and curious of all was
the Paxiuba, a tall, straight, perfectly smooth-stemmed palm,
with a most elegant head, formed of a few large curiously-cut
leaves. Its great singularity is, that the greater part of its roots
are above ground, and they successively die away, fresh ones
springing out of the stem higher up, so that the whole tree is
supported on three or four stout straight roots, sometimes so
high that a person can stand between them with the lofty tree
growing over his head. The main roots often diverge again
before they reach the ground, each into three or more smaller
ones, not an inch each in diameter. Though the stem of
24 TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. [July,
the tree is quite smooth, the roots are thickly covered with
large tuberculous prickles. Numbers of small trees of a few
feet high grow all around, each standing on spreading legs, a
miniature copy of its parent. Isidora cut down an Assai palm,
to get some palmeto for our dinner ; it forms an agreeable
vegetable of a sweetish flavour. Just as we were returning, we
were startled by a quiet remark that the tree close by us was
the Seringa, or India-rubber-tree. We rushed to it, axe in
hand, cut off a piece of bark, and had the satisfaction to see
the extraordinary juice come out. Catching a little in a box
I had with me, I next day found it genuine india-rubber, of a
yellowish colour, but possessing all its peculiar properties.
It being some saint's day, in the evening a fire was lit in
the road in front of our house, and going out we found Isidora
and Vincente keeping it up. Several others w r ere visible in
the street, and there appeared to be a line of them reaching to
the city. They seemed to be made quite as a matter of
business, being a mark of respect to certain of the more
illustrious saints, and, with rockets and processions, form the
greater part of the religion here. The glorious southern con-
stellations, with their crowded nebulae, were shining brilliantly
in the heavens as the fire expired, and we turned into our
hammocks well satisfied with all that we had seen during the
day.
July ^th. The vegetation now improved in appearance as
the dry season advanced. Plants were successively budding
and bursting their blossoms, and bright green leaves displaced
the half-withered ones of the past season. The climbers were
particularly remarkable, as much for the beauty of their foliage
as for their flowers. Often two or three climb over one tree
or shrub, mingling in the most perplexing though elegant
confusion, so that it is a matter of much difficulty to decide to
which plant the different blossoms belong, and should they be
high up it is impossible. A delicate white and a fine yellow
convolvulus were now plentiful ; the purple and yellow trumpet-
flowers were still among the most showy; and some noble
thick-leaved climbers mounted to the tops of trees, and sent
aloft bright spikes of scarlet flowers. Among the plants not in
flower, the twin-leaved Bauhi?iias of various forms were most
frequently noticed. The species are very numerous : some are
shrubsj others delicate climbers, and one is the most extra-
i8 4 S.] CLIMBING PLANTS. 25
ordinary among the extraordinary climbers of the forest, its
broad flattened woody stems being twisted in and out in a
most singular manner, mounting to the summits of the very
loftiest forest-trees, and hanging from their branches in gigantic
festoons, many hundred feet in length. A handsome pink and
white Clusia was now abundant, with large shining leaves, and
flowers having a powerful and very fragrant odour. It grows
not only as a good-sized tree out of the ground, but is also
parasitical on almost every other forest-tree. Its large round
whitish fruits are called " cebola braba " (wild onion), by the
natives, and are much eaten by birds, which thus probably
convey the seeds into the forks of lofty trees, where it seems
most readily to take root in any little decaying vegetable
matter, dung of birds, etc., that may be there ; and when it
arrives at such a size as to require more nourishment than it
can there obtain, it sends down long shoots to the ground,
which take root, and grow into a new stem. At Nazare there
is a tree by the road-side, out of the fork of which grows a
large Mucuja palm, and on the palm are three or four young
Clusia trees, which no doubt have, or will have, Orchidecz and
ferns again growing upon them. A few forest-trees were also
in blossom ; and it was truly a magnificent sight to behold a
great tree covered with one mass of flowers, and to hear the
deep distant hum of millions of insects gathered together to
enjoy the honeyed feast. But all is out of reach of the curious
and admiring naturalist. It is only over the outside of the
great dome of verdure exposed to the vertical rays of the sun
that flowers are produced, and on many of these trees there is
not a single blossom to be found at a less height than a
hundred feet. The whole glory of these forests could only be
seen by sailing gently in a balloon over the undulating flowery
surface above : such a treat is perhaps reserved for the traveller
of a future age.
A jararaca, said to be one of the most deadly serpents in
Brazil, was killed by a Negro in our garden. It was small,
and not brightly coloured. A fine coral snake was also brought
in ; it was about a yard long, and beautifully marked with
black, red, and yellow bands. Having, perhaps, had some
experience of the lavish manner in which foreigners pay for
such things, the man had the coolness to ask two milreis, or
4*. 6d. for it, so he had to throw it away, and got nothing. A
26 TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. [Jufy,
penny or twopence is enough to give for such things, which
are of no value to the natives ; and though they will not search
much after them for such a price, yet they will bring you all
that come in their way when they know you will purchase
them. Snakes were unpleasantly abundant at this time. I
nearly trod on one about ten feet long, which rather startled
me, and it, too, to judge by the rapid manner in which it
glided away. I caught also a small Amphisbena under the
coffee-trees in our garden. Though it is known to have no
poison-fangs, the Negroes declared it was very dangerous, and
that its bite could not be cured. It is commonly known as
the two-headed snake, from the tail being blunt and the head
scarcely visible ; and they believe that if it is cut in two, and
the two parts thrown some yards apart, they will come together
again, and join into an entire animal.
Among the curious things we meet with in the woods are
large heaps of earth and sand, sometimes by the roadside, and
sometimes extending quite across the path, making the pedes-
trian ascend and descend (a pleasing variety in this flat
country), and looking just as if some " Para and Peru direct
Railway Company " had commenced operations. These
mounds are often thirty or forty feet long, by ten or fifteen
wide, and about three or four feet high ; but instead of being
the work of a lot of railway labourers, we find it is all due to
the industry of a native insect, the much-dreaded Saiiba ant.
This insect is of a light-red colour, about the size of our largest
English species, the wood-ant, but with much more powerful
jaws. It does great injury to young trees, and will sometimes
strip them of their leaves in a single night. We often see,
hurrying across the pathways, rows of small green leaves ; these
are the Saiibas, each with a piece of leaf cut as smoothly as
with scissors, and completely hiding the body from sight. The
orange-tree is very subject to their attacks, and in our garden
the young trees were each planted in the centre of a ring-shaped
earthen, vessel, which being filled with water completely sur-
rounded the stem, preventing the ants from reaching it. Some
places are so infested by them that it is useless planting any-
thing. No means of destroying them are known, their numbers
being so immense, as may readily be seen from the great
quantities of earth they remove.
Many different kinds of wasps' and bees' nests are constantly
184S.] JOURNEY TO MAGOARY. 27
met with; but we were rather shy of meddling with them.
They are generally attached to the undersides of leaves, espe-
cially of the young Tucuma palm, which are broad, and offer
a good shelter. Some are little flat domes, with a single small
opening ; others have the cells all exposed. Some have only
two or three cells, others a great number. These are all of a
delicate papery substance; but some have large cylindrical
nests, on high trees, of a material like thick cardboard. Then
again there are nests in hollow trees, and others among their
roots in the earth, while the solitary species make little holes
in the paths, and pierce the mud-walls of the houses, till they
appear as if riddled with shot. Many of these insects sting
very painfully ; and some are so fierce, that on their nests being
approached, they will fly out and attack the unwary passer-by.
The larger kinds 'of wasps have very long stings, and can so
greatly extend their bodies that we were often stung when
endeavouring to secure them for our collections.
I also suffered a little from another of our insect enemies :
the celebrated chigoe at length paid us a visit. I found a
tender pimple on the side of my foot, which Isidora pronounced
to be a " bicho do pe," or chigoe ; so preferring to extract it
myself, I set to work' with a needle, but not being used to the
operation, could not get it out entire. I then rubbed a little
snuff in the wound, and afterwards felt no more of it. The
insect is a minute flea, which burrows into the skin of the toes,
where it grows into a large bag of eggs as big as a pea, the
insect being just distinguishable as a black speck on one side
of it. When it first enters it causes a slight irritation, and if
found may then be easily extracted ; but when it grows large
it is very painful, and if neglected may produce a serious
wound. With care and attention, however, this dreaded insect
is not so annoying as the mosquito or our own domestic flea.
Having made arrangements for another and a longer visit
to Magoary, we packed up our hammocks, nets, and boxes,
and went on board a canoe which trades regularly to the mills,
bringing the rice and timber, and taking whatever is required
there. We left Para about nine at night, when the tide served,
and at five the next morning found the vessel lying at anchor,
waiting for the flood. W 7 e were to proceed on to the mills in
a montaria, or small Indian canoe, and as we were five with
the Negroes who were to paddle, I felt rather nervous on
28 TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. [July,
finding that we sank the little boat to within two inches of the
water's edge, and that a slight motion of any one of the party
would be enough to swamp us altogether. However, there was
no help for it, so off we went, but soon found that with its
unusual load our boat leaked so much that we had to keep
baling by turns with a calabash all the time. This was not
very agreeable ; but after a few miles we got used to it, and
looked to the safe termination of our voyage as not altogether
improbable.
The picturesque and novel appearance of the river's banks,
as the sun rose, attracted all our attention. The stream,
though but an insignificant tributary of the Amazon, was wider
than the Thames. The banks were everywhere clothed with a
dense forest. In places were numerous mangroves, their roots
descending from the branches into the water, having a curious
appearance ; on some we saw the fruit germinating on the tree,
sending out a shoot which would descend to the water, and
form another root to the parent. Behind these rose large
forest-trees, mingled with the Assai, Miriti, and other palms
while passion-flowers and ^convolvuluses hung their festoons to
the water's edge.
As we advanced the river became narrower, and about seven
o'clock we landed, to stretch our cramped limbs, at a sitio,
where there was a tree covered with the hanging nests of the
yellow troupial, with numbers of the birds continually flying in
and out. In an hour more we passed Larangeiras, a pretty
spot, where there are a few huts, and the residence of Senhor C,
the Commandante of the district. Further on we turned into
a narrow igaripe, which wound about in the forest for a mile or
two, when a sudden turn at length brought us the welcome
sight of the mills. Here a hearty welcome from Mr. Leavens,
and a good breakfast, quite compensated for our four hours'
cramping in the montaria, and prepared us for an exploring
expedition among the woods, paths, and lakes in the vicinity.
Our daily routine during our stay at the mills was as follows :
We rose at half-past five, when whoever pleased took a
bath at the mill-stream. We then started, generally with our
guns, into the forest, as early in the morning is the best time
for shooting, and Mr. Leavens often accompanied us, to show
us the best feeding-trees. At eight we returned to breakfast,
and then again started off in search of insects and plants till
1846.] MONKEYS. 29
dinner-time. After dinner we generally had another walk for
an hour or two ; and the rest of the evening was occupied in
preparing and drying our captures, and in conversation.
Sometimes we would start down the igaripe in the montaria, not
returning till late in the afternoon ; but it was in my early
expeditions into the forest that I had my curiosity most
gratified by the sight of many strange birds and other animals.
Toucans and parrots were abundant, and the splendid blue
and purple chatterers were also sometimes met with. Humming-
birds would dart by us, and disappear in the depths of the
forest, and woodpeckers and creepers of various sizes and
colours were running up the trunks and along the branches.
The little red-headed and puff-throated manakins were also
seen, and heard making a loud clapping noise with their wings
which it seemed hardly possible for so small a bird to produce.
But to me the greatest treat was making my first acquaintance
with the monkeys. One morning, when walking alone in the
forest, I heard a rustling of the leaves and branches, as if a
man were walking quickly among them, and expected every
minute to see some Indian hunter make his appearance, when
all at once the sounds appeared to be in the branches above,
and turning up my eyes there, I saw a large monkey looking
down at me, and seeming as much astonished as I was myself.
I should have liked to have had a good look at him, but he
thought it safer to retreat. The next day, being out with Mr.
Leavens, near the same place, we heard a similar sound, and it
was soon evident that a whole troop of monkeys were
approaching. We therefore hid ourselves under some trees,
and, with guns cocked, waited their coming. Presently we
caught a glimpse of them skipping about among the trees,
leaping from branch to branch, and passing from one tree to
another with the greatest ease. At last one approached too
near for its safety. Mr. Leavens fired, and it fell, the rest
making off with all possible speed. The poor little animal was
not quite dead, and its cries, its innocent-looking countenance,
and delicate little hands were quite childlike. Having often
heard how good monkey was, I took it home, and had i* cut
up and fried for breakfast : there was about as much of \\ as a
fowl, and the meat something resembled rabbit, without any
very peculiar or unpleasant flavour. Another new dish was
the Cotia or Agouti, a little animal, something between a
30 TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. [July,
guinea-pig and a hare, but with longer legs. It is abundant,
and considered good eating, but the meat is rather dry and
tasteless.
One day we took the montaria and started to pay a visit to
the Commandante at Larangeiras. The morning was beautiful j
swallows and kingfishers flew before us, but the beautiful
pavofi (Eurypygia he lias), which I most wanted, wisely kept
out of the way. The banks of the igaripe were covered with a
species of fnga, in flower, from which Mr. B. obtained some
fine floral beetles. Among the roots of the mangroves
numbers of "calling crabs" were running about; their one
large claw held up, as if beckoning, having a very grotesque
appearance. At Larangeiras the Commandante welcomed us
with much politeness in his palace of posts and clay, and
offered us wine and bananas. He then produced a large bean,
very thick and hard, on breaking which, with a hammer, the
whole interior was seen to be filled with a farinaceous yellow
substance enveloping the seeds : it has a sweet taste, and is
eaten by the Indians with much relish. On our expressing
a wish to go into the forest, he kindly volunteered to accom-
pany us. We soon reached a lofty forest-tree, under which
lay many of the legumes, of which we collected some fine
specimens. The old gentleman then took us along several
paths, showing us the various trees, some useful as timber,
others as " remedios " for all the ills of life. One tree, which
is very plentiful, produces a substance intermediate between
camphor and turpentine. It is called here white pitch, and
is extensively collected, and when melted up with oil, is used
for pitching boats. Its strong camphor-like odour might,
perhaps, render it useful in some other way.
In the grounds around the house were a breadfruit-tree,
some cotton-plants, and a fine castanha, or Brazil-nut tree, on
which were several large fruits, and many nests of the yellow
troupial, which seems to prefer the vicinity of houses. Finding
in Mr. Edwards's book a mention of his having obtained some
good shells from Larangeiras, we spoke to Senhor C. about
them, when he immediately went to a box and produced two
or three tolerable specimens ; so we engaged his son, a boy
of eleven or twelve, to get us a lot at a vintem (halfpenny)
each, and send them to Mr. Leavens at the mill, which, how-
ever, he never did.
1848.] TIMBER-TREES. 31
During our makeshift conversation, carried on with our very
slender Portuguese vocabulary, Senhor C. would frequently
ask us what such and such a word was in " Americano " (for
so the English language is here called), and appeared highly
amused at the absurd and incomprehensible terms used by us
in ordinary conversation. Among other things we told him
that we called " rapaz" in Americano " boy," which word (boi)
in Portuguese means an ox. This was to him a complete
climax of absurdity, and tickled him into roars of laughter,
and he made us repeat it to him several times, that he might
not forget so good a joke ; even when we were pulling away
into the middle of the stream, and waving our " adeos," his
last words were, as loud as he could bawl, u O que se chama
rapaz ? " (What do you call rapaz ?)
A day or two before we left the mills we had an opportunity
of seeing the effects of the vampire's* operations on a young
horse Mr. Leavens had just purchased. The first morning
after its arrival the poor animal presented a most pitiable
appearance, large streams of clotted blood running down from
several wounds on its back and sides. The appearance was,
however, I daresay, worse than the reality, as the bats have
the skill to bleed without giving pain, and it is quite possible
the horse, like a patient under the influence of chloroform,
may have known nothing of the matter. The danger is in the
attacks being repeated every night till the loss of blood
becomes serious. To prevent this, red peppers are usually
rubbed on the parts wounded, and on all likely places ; and
this will partly check the sanguinivorous appetite of the bats,
but not entirely, as in spite of this application the poor animal
was again bitten the next night in fresh places.
Mr. Leavens is a native of Canada, and has been much
engaged in the timber-trade of that country, and we had many
conversations on the possibility of obtaining a good supply of
timber from the Amazons. It seems somewhat extraordinary
that the greater part of our timber should be brought from
countries where the navigation is stopped nearly half the year
by ice, and where the rivers are at all times obstructed by
rapids and subject to storms, which render the bringing down
the rafts a business of great danger ; where, too, there is little
* This is a blood-sucking bat (Phyllostoma sp.), misnamed "vampyre,"
while the bats of the genus Vampyrus are fruit-caters.
32 TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. [July,
variety of timber, and much of it of such poor quality as only
to be used on account of its cheapness. On the other hand
the valley of the Amazon and its countless tributary streams,
offers a country where the rivers are open all the year, and are
for hundreds and even thousands of miles unobstructed by
rapids, and where violent storms at any season seldom occur.
The banks of all these streams are clothed with virgin forests,
containing timber-trees in inexhaustible quantities, and of such
countless varieties that there seems no purpose for which wood
is required but one of a fitting quality may be found. In
particular, there is cedar, said to be so abundant in some
localities, that it could, on account of the advantages before
mentioned, be sent to England at a less price than even the
Canada white pine. It is a wood which works nearly as easy
as pine, has a fine aromatic odour, and is equal in appearance
to common mahogany, and is therefore well adapted for doors
and all internal finishings of houses ; yet, owing to the want
of a regular supply, the merchants here are obliged to have pine
from the States to make their packing-cases. For centuries
the woodman's axe has been the pioneer of civilisation in the
gloomy forests of Canada, while the treasures of this great and
fertile country are still unknown.
Mr. Leavens had been informed that plenty of cedar is to
be found on the Tocantins, the first great tributary of the
Amazon from the south, and much wished to make a trip to
examine it, and, if practicable, bring a raft of the timber down
to Para ; in which case we agreed to go with him, for the
purpose of investigating the natural history of that almost
unknown district. We determined to start, if at all, in a few
weeks ; so having been nearly a fortnight at the mills, we
returned to Para on foot, sending our luggage and collections
by the canoe.
Vessels had arrived from the States and from Rio. A law
had been lately passed by the Imperial Government, which
was expected to produce a very beneficial effect on the
commerce and tranquillity of the province. It had hitherto
been the custom to obtain almost all the recruits for the
Brazilian army from this province. Indians, who came down
the rivers with produce, were forcibly seized and carried off
for soldiers. This w r as called voluntary enlistment, and had
gone on for many years, till the fear of it kept the natives from
1848.] boa Constrictor. 33
coming down to Para, and thus seriously checked the trade of
the province. A law had now been passed (in consequence
of the repeated complaints of the authorities here, frightening
the Government with the prospect of another revolution),
forbidding enlistment in the province of Para for fifteen years ;
so we may now hope to be free from any disturbances which
might have arisen from this cause.
Nothing impressed me more than the quiet and orderly
state of the city and neighbourhood. No class of people carry
knives or other weapons, and there is less noise, fighting, or
drunkenness in the streets both day and night, than in any
town in England of equal population. When it is remembered
that the population is mostly uneducated, that it consists of
slaves, Indians, Brazilians, Portuguese, and foreigners, and
that rum is sold at every corner at about twopence per pint, it
says much for the good-nature and pacific disposition of the
people.
August $rd. We received a fresh inmate into our verandah
in the person of a fine young boa constrictor. A man who
had caught it in the forest left it for our inspection. It was
tightly tied round the neck to a good-sized stick, which
hindered the freedom of its movements, and appeared nearly
to stop respiration. It was about ten feet long, and very
large, being as thick as a man's thigh. Here it lay writhing
about for two or three days, dragging its clog along with it,
sometimes stretching its mouth open with a most suspicious
yawn, and twisting up the end of its tail into a very tight curl.
At length we agreed with the man to purchase it for two
milreis (4s. 6d.), and having fitted up a box with bars at the
top, got the seller to put it into the cage. It immediately
began making up for lost time by breathing most violently, the
expirations sounding like high-pressure steam escaping from a
Great Western locomotive. This it continued for some hours,
making about four and a half inspirations per minute, and
then settled down into silence, which it afterwards maintained,
unless when disturbed or irritated.
Though it was without food for more than a week, the
birds we gave it were refused, even when alive. Rats are
said to be their favourite food, but these we could not procure.
These serpents are not at all uncommon, even close to the
city, and are considered quite harmless. They are caught by
34 TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. [^1/^/^,1848.
pushing a large stick under them, when they twist round it,
and their head being then cautiously seized and tied to the
stick, they are easily carried home. Another interesting little
animal was a young sloth, which Antonio, an Indian boy, who
had enlisted himself in our service, brought alive from the
forest. It was not larger than a rabbit, was covered with
coarse grey and brown hair, and had a little round head and
face resembling the human countenance quite as much as a
monkey's, but with a very sad and melancholy expression. It
could scarcely crawl along the ground, but appeared quite at
home on a chair, hanging on the back, legs, or rails. It was a
most quiet, harmless little animal, submitting to any kind of
examination with no other manifestation of displeasure than
a melancholy whine. It slept hanging with its back down-
wards and its head between its fore-feet. Its favourite food is
the leaf of the Cecropia peltata, of which it sometimes ate a
little from a branch we furnished it with. After remaining
with us three days, we found it dead in the garden, whither it
had wandered, hoping no doubt to reach its forest home. It
had eaten scarcely anything with us, and appeared to have
died of hunger.
We were now busy packing up our first collection of insects
to send to England. In just two months we had taken the
large number of 553 species of Lepidoptera of which more
than 400 were butterflies, 450 beetles, and 400 of other orders,
making in all 1,300 species of insects.
Mr. Leavens decided on making the Tocantins trip, and we
agreed to start in a week, looking forward with much pleasure
to visiting a new and unexplored district.
CHAPTER III.
THE TOCANTINS.
Canoe, Stores, and Crew River Moju Igaripe Miri Cameta Senhor
Gomez and his Establishment Search for a Dinner Jambouassu
Polite Letter Baiao and its Inhabitants A Swarm of Wasps Enter
the Rocky District The Mutuca Difficulty of getting Men A Vil-
lage without Houses Catching an Alligator Duck-shooting
Aroyas, and the Falls A Nocturnal Concert Blue Macaws Turtles'
Ergs A Slight Accident Capabilities of the Country Return to
Para.
On the afternoon of the 26th of August we left Para* for the
Tocantins. Mr. Leavens had undertaken to arrange all the
details of the voyage. He had hired one of the country
canoes, roughly made, but in some respects convenient, having
a tolda, or palm-thatched roof, like a gipsy's tent, over the
stern, which formed our cabin ; and in the forepart a similar
one, but lower, under which most of our provisions and
baggage were stowed. Over this was a rough deck of cedar-
boards, where the men rowed, and where we could take our
meals when the sun was not too hot. The canoe had two
masts and fore and aft sails, and was about twenty-four feet
long and eight wide.
Besides our guns, ammunition, and boxes to preserve our
collections in, we had a three months' stock of provisions,
consisting of farinha, fish, and caxaca for the men ; with the
addition of tea, coffee, biscuits, sugar, rice, salt beef, and
cheese, for ourselves. This, with clothes, crockery, and about
a bushel sack of copper money the only coin current in the
interior pretty well loaded our little craft. Our crew consisted
of old Isidora, as cook ; Alexander, an Indian from the mills,
who was named Captain ; Domingo, who had been up the
river, and was therefore to be our pilot ; and Antonio, the boy |
36 TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. [August,
before mentioned. Another Indian deserted when we were
about to leave, so we started without him, trusting to get two
or three more as we went along.
Though in such a small boat, and going up a river in the
same province, we were not allowed to leave Para without
passports and clearances from the custom-house, and as much
difficulty and delay as if we had been taking a two hundred
ton ship into a foreign country. But such is the rule here,
even the internal trade of the province, carried on by Brazilian
subjects, not being exempt from it. The forms to be filled up,
the signing and countersigning at different offices, the applica-
tions to be made and formalities to be observed, are so nu-
merous and complicated, that it is quite impossible for a
stranger to go through them ; and had not Mr. Leavens
managed all this part of the business, we should probably have
been obliged, from this cause alone, to have given up our
projected journey.
Soon after leaving the city night came on, and the tide turn-
ing against us, we had to anchor. We w r ere up at five the next
morning, and found that we were in the Mojii, up which our
w r ay lay, and which enters the Para river from the south. The
morning was delightful; the Suacuras, a kind of rail, were
tuning their melancholy notes, which are always to be heard on
the river-banks night and morning ; lofty palms rose on either
side, and when the sun appeared all was fresh and beautiful.
About eight, we passed Jaguarari, an estate belonging to Count
Brisson, where there are a hundred and fifty slaves engaged
principally in cultivating mandiocca. We breakfasted on board,
and about two in the afternoon reached Jighery, a very pretty
spot, with steep grassy banks, cocoa and other palms, and
oranges in profusion. Here we stayed for the tide, and dined on
shore, and Mr. B. and myself went in search of insects. We
found them rather abundant, and immediately took two species
of butterflies we had never seen at Para. We had not expected
to find, in so short a distance, such a difference in the insects ;
though, as the same thing takes place in England, why should
it not here ? I saw a very long and slender snake, of a brown
colour, twining among the bushes, so that till it moved it was
hardly distinguishable from the stem of a climbing plant. Our
men had caught a sloth in the morning, as it was swimming
across the river, which was about half a mile wide ; it was
184S.] IGARIPE MIRL 37
different from the species we had had alive at Para, having a
patch of short yellow and black fur on the back. The Indians
stewed it for their dinner, and as they consider the meat a great
delicacy, I tasted it, and found it tender and very palatable.
In the evening, at sunset, the scene was lovely. The groups
of elegant palms, the large cotton-trees relieved against the
golden sky, the Negro houses surrounded with orange and
mango trees, the grassy bank, the noble river, and the back-
ground of eternal forest, all softened by the mellowed light of
the magical half-hour after sunset, formed a picture indescrib-
ably beautiful.
At nine a.m., on the 28th, we entered the Igaripe Miri,
which is a cut made for about half a mile, connecting the Mojii
river with a stream flowing into the Tocantins, nearly opposite
Cameta ; thus forming an inner passage, safer than the naviga-
tion by the Para river, where vessels are at times exposed to a
heavy swell and violent gales, and where there are rocky shoals,
very dangerous for the small canoes by which the Cameta
trade is principally carried on. When about halfway through,
we found the tide running against us, and the water very
shallow, and were obliged to wait, fastening the canoe to a tree.
In a short time the rope by which we were moored broke, and
we were drifted broadside down the stream, and should have
been upset by coming against a shoal, but were luckily able to
turn into a little bay where the water was still. On getting out
of the canal, we sailed and rowed along a winding river, often
completely walled in with a luxuriant vegetation of trees and
climbing plants. A handsome tree with a mass of purple
blossoms was not uncommon, and a large aquatic Arum, with
its fine white flowers and curious fruits, grew on all the mud-
banks along the shores. The Miriti palm here covered exten-
sive tracts of ground, and often reached an enormous height.
At five p.m. we arrived at Santa Anna, a village with a pretty
church in the picturesque Italian architecture usual in Para.
We had anticipated some delay here with our passports ; but
finding there was no official to examine them we continued our
journey.
The 29th was spent in progressing slowly among intricate
channels and shoals, on which we several times got aground,
till we at last reached the main stream of the Tocantins, studded
with innumerable palm-covered islands.
33 TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. {September,
On the 30th, at daylight, we crossed over the river, which is
live or six miles wide, to Cameta, one of the principal towns in
the province. Its trade is in Brazil-nuts, cacao, india-rubber,
and cotton, which are produced in abundance by the surround-
ing district. It is a small straggling place, and though there are
several shops, such a thing as a watch-key, which I required,
was not to be obtained. It has a picturesque appearance,
being situated on a bank thirty or forty feet high ; and the
view from it, of the river studded with island beyond island, as
far as the eye can reach, is very fine. We breakfasted here
with Senhor Le Roque, a merchant with whom Mr. Leavens is
acquainted, and who showed us round the place, and then
offered to accompany us in his boat to the sitio of Senhor
Gomez, about thirty miles up the river, to whom we had an
introduction, and who we hoped would be able to furnish us
with some more men.
On going to our canoe, however, one of our men, Domingo,
the pilot, was absent ; but the tide serving, Senhor Le Roque
set off, and we promised to follow as soon as we could find our
pilot, who was, no doubt, hidden in some taverna, or liquor-shop,
in the town. But after making every inquiry and search for
him in vain, waiting till the tide was almost gone, we determined
to start without him, and send back word by Senhor Le Roque,
that he was to come on in a montaria the next day. If we had
had more experience of the Indian character, we should have
waited patiently till the following morning, when we should, no
doubt, have found him. As it was, we never saw him during
the rest of the voyage, though he had left clothes and several
other articles in the canoe.
In consequence of our delay we lost the wind, and our re-
maining man and boy had to row almost all the way, which
put them rather out of humour ; and before we arrived, we
met Senhor Le Roque returning. Senhor Gomez received us
kindly, and we stayed with him two days, waiting for men he
was trying to procure for us. We amused ourselves very well,
shooting and entomologising. Near the house was a large
leguminous tree loaded with yellow blossoms, which were fre-
quented by paroquets and humming-birds. Up the igaripe
were numbers of the curious and handsome birds, called
"Ciganos," or Gipsies {Opisthocomus cristatus). They are as
large as a fowl, have an elegant movable crest on their head,
1848.] " CIGANOSr 39
and a varied brown and white plumage. I shot two, but they
were not in good condition ; and as they are plentiful on all
these streams, though not found at Para, it was with less
regret that I threw them away. They keep in flocks on low
trees and bushes on the banks of the river, feeding on the
fruits and leaves of the large Arum before mentioned. They
never descend to the ground, and have a slow and unsteady
flight.
In the Campos, about a mile through the forest, I found wax-
bills, pigeons, toucans, and white-winged and blue chatterers.
In the forest we found some fine new Reliconias and
Erycinidce, and I took two Cicadas sitting on the trunk of
a tree : when caught they make a noise almost deafening ;
they generally rest high up on the trees, and though daily and
hourly heard, are seldom seen or captured. As I was re-
turning to the house, I met a little Indian boy, and at the same
time a large iguana at least three feet long, with crested back
and hanging dewlap, looking very fierce, ran across the path.
The boy immediately rushed after it, and seizing the tail with
both hands, dashed the creature's head against a tree, killing
it on the spot, and then carried it home, where it no doubt
made a very savoury supper.
We here had an opportunity of seeing something of the
arrangements and customs of a Brazilian country-house. The
whole edifice in this case was raised four or five feet on piles,
to keep it above water at the high spring tides. Running out
to low-water mark was a substantial wooden pier, terminated
by a flight of steps. This leads from a verandah, opening out
of which is a room where guests are received and -business
transacted, and close by is the sugar-mill and distillery. Quite
detached is the house where the mistress, children, and servants
reside, the approach to it being through the verandah, and
along a raised causeway forty or fifty feet in length. We took
our meals in the verandah with Senhor Gomez, never once
being honoured by the presence of the lady or her grown-up
daughters. At six a.m. we had coffee ; at nine, breakfast, con-
sisting of beef and dried fish, with farinha, which supplies the
place of bread ; and, to finish, coffee and farinha cakes, and
the rather unusual luxury of butter. We dined at three, and
had rice or shrimp soup, a variety of meat, game or fresh fish,
terminating with fruit, principally pine-apples and oranges,
40 TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. [September,
cut up in slices and served in saucers ; and at eight in the
evening we had tea and farinha cakes. Two or three Negro
and Indian boys wait at table, constantly changing the plates,
which, as soon as empty, are whipped off the table, and re-
placed by clean ones, a woman just behind being constantly
at work washing them.
Our boy Antonio had here turned lazy, disobeyed orders,
and was discharged on the spot, going off with a party who
were proceeding up the Amazon after pirarucii. We now had
but one man left, and with two that Senhor Gomez lent us to
go as far as Baiao, we left Vista Alegre on the morning of the
2nd of September. The river presented the same appearance
as below, innumerable islands, most of them several miles
long, and the two shores never to be seen at once. As we had
nothing for dinner, I went with Mr. Leavens in the montaria,
which our Indians were to return in, to a house up an igaripe,
to see what we could buy. Cattle and sheep, fowls and ducks
were in plenty, and we thought we had come to the right
place ; but we were mistaken, for the following conversation
took place between Mr. Leavens and a Negro woman, the only
person we saw: "Have you any fowls to sell?" "No,"
" Any ducks ? " " No." " Any meat ? " " No." " What do
you do here then ? " " Nothing." " Have you any eggs to
sell ? " " No, the hens don't lay eggs." And notwithstanding
our declaration that we had nothing to eat, we were obliged to
go away as empty as we came, because her master was not at
home, and nothing was hers to sell. At another house we
we
